How Richard C. Wilson Focused Family Office Club

At a Single Family Office Summit opening session, Richard C. Wilson recounts how he built Family Office Club and speaks to attendees about its community and approach.

In his opening remarks at a Family Office Club summit, Richard C. Wilson describes moving from early business experiments into family office work and building a community around the field. He connects his career choices with the club's events, education and investing, then describes what attendees can take from meeting people who operate, invest in and raise capital for businesses.

In this video: Richard C. Wilson (Founder of Family Office Club)

What they said

1. Richard's Yellow Pages calls led to a website job. Richard says he called every computer company listed in the Yellow Pages looking for work. One callback led to a website job and lessons in team management and leadership. (at 4:04)
2. A Chamber connection led to a consulting job. Richard says a Chamber of Commerce connection led to a job after he offered to work for free until he proved he could do the work. He made six figures out of college. (at 5:28)
3. Richard on building authority in a niche. Richard says a mentor taught him to give value to a defined audience. The mentor said someone could become a local expert in one or two years, a regional expert in three or four, and a global expert in seven. (at 5:56)
4. Richard on family office niche focus. Richard says families he considers smart focus on one to three niches, sometimes just one or two. They still diversify cash flow, real estate and public markets. (at 9:36)
5. Richard on health and work. Richard says people do not need to trade being ultra healthy for being ultra wealthy. In his view, health can support focus, energy and getting more done. (at 11:26)

In their words

"most ideas don't work most ideas don't scale most ideas I was excited about no one cared about"

"if you don't treat people well no one's going to want to work with you or work for you"

Why it matters if you are building or preserving great wealth

Richard gives a reason to look past a short introduction: someone who says they own a couple of car washes may have 110. A name tag without a family office label may miss someone with substantial operating experience.